Our rankings are great, just like our people

When you’re trying to decide where to study, one of the easy things to do is to look up the nationally-published league tables. While that may be a useful guide, does it tell the whole story? In one way, we don’t mind – we’re consistently rated at or near the top in London across all our courses – but we feel our people make the difference.

Nursing and Midwifery at Kingston University and St George’s has been rated top in London by the Guardian University Guide for 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. That’s great, but not enough for Dr Julia Gale, Head of the School of Nursing: “We’re developing skilled, sensitive professionals who will sometimes be tested to their limits by the demands of their vocation. We want to make sure we have personal relationships with each and every one of our students, so we can support you right through the course, even when you’re out on placement,” she said.

Associate Professor Georgina Sims is in charge of the Midwifery department. She explained: “We ask all of our current students what they most like about studying here; ‘the people’ is always the top answer. With most of our teaching taking place in the busy environment of St George’s, we have a very strong team feeling and support each other through this stressful but ultimately joyful experience.”

The National Student Survey (NSS) asks final year students for their views on their universities. Education at Kingston University is consistently picked out for the quality of teaching, with a 95.3% satisfaction rating in 2016 – the highest in London and fifth highest nationwide.

Marcus Bhargava, Head of the School of Education, is proud of the way our staff interact with their students: “We have a lot of experienced professionals within our team of academics. Obviously they know their subjects, but it is great to see how they all strive to be that inspirational leader who makes teacher training come alive!”